1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to components, systems, methods and apparatus for the identification, reading and or tracking of playing card hands in a gaming environment, such as in casino table card games.
2. Background of the Art
Casinos and other forms of gaming constitute a very large industry. Large amounts of money are exchanged and placed at risk and it has always been a significant concern of the industry in protecting the casinos and players against fraudulent events. In casino table card games, there are generally three areas of risk in fraud, 1) falsifying/replacing playing cards, 2) falsifying/replacing chips, and 3) passing of information improperly. Casinos would also classify certain forms of play at card games as at least undesirable, if not excludable (such as card-counting).
Numerous different methods have been proposed and instituted to defend against these types of fraud. There is extensive physical surveillance of casinos, both directly by personnel and less intrusively by overhead cameras that view and record wagering and play activities. Trained personnel watch the play of games and individual players, identifying situations and events that indicate problems. Although most of these trained individuals can detect chip substitution, card exchanges and some forms of unauthorized player/dealer communications, it is difficult for the observers' attention to be maintained at the highest levels consistently.
There are other reasons for observing the play of casino table card games, such as to rate the efficiency of dealers over time, rate the efficiency of players over time, and provide a statistical basis for analysis of new games. This can assist the casino in rating players for comps and special invitations and identify preferred dealers for higher stake tables.
While some aspects of a casino's security system should be plainly visible as a deterrent, other aspects of the security should be unobtrusive to avoid detracting from the players' enjoyment of the game and to prevent cheaters and thieves from avoiding detection. Some of the current methods of tracking have drawbacks. The methods typically depend on manual observation of a gaming table. Thus coverage is not comprehensive, and is limited to tracking a relatively small number of games, customers and employees. This problem is exacerbated by a customer's ability to rapidly move between gaming tables. A commonly known method for cheating customers to avoid detection is to switch tables frequently. The tracking methods are also prone to error since the manual methods rely on human observers who can become inattentive or distracted. In one commonly known method of cheating the casino, one member of a team will create a distraction while another member steals chips or swaps cards. These manual tracking methods are also labor intensive, and thus costly.
The advance of technology in the fields of imaging, symbol recognition, computers and software has enabled the potential for greater utilization of technology to automatically provide a basis for security as opposed to merely providing a source of information for humans to evaluate. Security enhancing systems are needed in various different aspects of the play of casino table card games, and many different systems have been proposed.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,126,166 (Lorson) describes an integrated blackjack game control system having multiple sensors and output devices, electronic signal processing equipment, passive and active operator control devices, and a computer system. The system components are capable of being installed on or near existing blackjack tables and support equipment, and to operate with standard playing cards. The system performs several simultaneous functions to accelerate the play of a game of blackjack, enhance the shuffling process, and perform continuous monitoring of key dealer and table performance attributes. The system gathers information on the distribution of cards in the discard shoe from knowledge of the sequence of cards dealt during game play. When signaled, the system determines appropriate sequence, number, and positions of the pre-shuffle plug locations of the cards in the discard shoe. The system transmits the pre-shuffle card plug information to an output device driver assembly that actuates the desired output devices. In one implementation, the system output devices are light-emitting diodes, but any number of electric, acoustic, or mechanical devices could be utilized.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,299,536 describes a playing card dispensing shoe apparatus, system and method, wherein the shoe has a card scanner which scans the indicia on a playing card as the card moves along and out of a chute of the shoe by operation of the dealer. The scanner is located on the outlet slope of the dispenser, not within any card moving element internal to the device. The scanner comprises an optical-sensor used in combination with a neural network which is trained using error back-propagation to recognize the card suits and card values of the playing cards as they are moved past the scanner, so specially coded information is not needed. The scanning process in combination with a central processing unit (CPU) determines the progress of the play of the game and, by identifying card counting systems or basic playing strategies in use by the players of the game, provides means to limit or prevent casino losses and calculate the Theoretical Win of the casino, thus also providing an accurate quality method of the amount of comps to be given a particular player. The shoe is also provided with additional devices that make it simple and easy to access, record and display other data relevant to the play of the game. These include means for accommodating a “customer-tracking card” which reads each player's account information from a magnetic stripe on the card, thus providing access to the player's customer data file stored on the casino's computer system, and one or more alpha-numeric keyboards and LCD displays used to enter and retrieve player and game information. Also included are keyboards on the game table so that each player can individually select various playing or wagering options using their own keyboard. The system is more focused on analysis of overall play at a table and by individuals rather then identifying specific hands and play at each round of a card game. The system evaluates individual player strategy and proficiency after the read card information is sent to a computer
There are numerous U.S. Patents that have been issued to MindPlay LLP relating to table security systems. These patents teach card dealing shoes, card discard racks, and a camera reading system that can read suit and rank. These U.S. Patents include U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,579,181; 6,579,1810; 6,533,662; 6,533,276; 6,530,837; 6,530,836; 6,527,271; 6,520,857; 6,517,436; 6,517,435; and 6,460,848, all titled Method and Apparatus for Monitoring Casinos and Games.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,460,848 relates to the card reading tray itself. There is no clear disclosure of two distinct card-reading systems. However, the MindPlay system does clearly read cards in a shoe before dealing the cards. There is also reference to knowledge of the order of cards in a discard holder. The overall objective of the invention appears to be the provision of a system that automatically monitors playing and wagering of a game, including the gaming habits of players and the performance of employees. A card deck reader automatically reads a symbol from each card in a deck of cards before a first one of the cards is removed. The symbol identifies a respective rank and suit of the card. A chip tray reader automatically images the contents of a chip tray, to periodically determine the number and value of chips in the chip tray, and to compare the change in contents of the chip tray to the outcome of game play for verifying that the proper amounts have been paid out and collected. A table monitor automatically images the activity occurring at a gaming table. Periodic comparison of the images identifies wagering, as well as the appearance, removal and position of cards and other game objects on the gaming table. A drop box automatically verifies an amount and authenticity of a deposit and reconciles the deposit with a change in the contents of the chip tray. The drop box employs a variety of lighting and resolutions to image selected portions of the deposited item. The system detects prohibited playing and wagering patterns, and determines the win/loss percentage of the players and the dealer, as well as a number of other statistically relevant measures. The measurements provide automated security and real-time accounting and complimentary player benefits.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,605,334 and 6,093,103 and disclose a card-reading element or section or attachment to a card shuffler. The disclosure is read in combination with U.S. Pat. No. 5,356,145 (Verschoor, which discloses the ‘shuffler’). The secure game table system is for monitoring each hand in a progressive live card game, said progressive live card game having at least one deck, said at least one deck having a predetermined number of cards, said secure game table system having players at a plurality of player positions and a dealer at a dealer position. The secure game table system comprises: a shoe for holding each card from at least one deck before being dealt by said dealer in said hand, said shoe having a detector for reading at least the value and the suit of said each card, said detector issuing a signal corresponding at least to said value and suit for said each card, a progressive bet sensor located near each of said plurality of player positions for sensing the presence of a progressive bet, when said progressive bet is sensed, said progressive bet sensor issuing a signal corresponding to said presence, a card sensor located near each of said plurality of player positions and said dealer position, said card sensor issuing a signal when a card in said hand is received at said card sensor, and a game control. The game control has a memory and is receptive of progressive bet signals from the progressive bet sensor at each of player position for storing in memory which player positions placed a progressive bet. The game control is receptive of value and suit signals from the detector in the shoe for storing in memory at least the value and suit of each card dealt from the shoe into each hand. The game control is receptive of card received signals from card sensors at each of player position and the dealer position. The game control correlates in memory each card dealt from the shoe in game sequence to each card received at a player position having a progressive bet sensed.
U.S. Pat. No.5,772,505 (Garczynski) describes a dual card scanning module that announces when the symbols of a face-up standard playing card and a face-down standard playing card achieve a desired combination. The module has a scanner system that illuminates and scans at least a portion of a symbol of the face-up standard playing card and at least a portion of a symbol of the face-down standard playing card and stores the results thereof in a first and second array device, respectively. The module also has a guide to assist in receiving and positioning the cards such that the face-up standard playing card is above and aligned with the face-down standard playing card. When in this position, the symbol portions of the face-up and the face-down standard playing cards can be scanned by the array devices to generate respective scanning results. The module compares the scanning results with a memory storing a plurality of references representing respective symbols of the standard playing cards to determine if the cards have achieved the desired combination.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,941,769 (Order) describes a system for professional use in table games of chance with playing cards and gaming chips (jettons), in particular the game of Blackjack. The system provides an automatically working apparatus that will register and evaluate all phases of the run of the game automatically. This is achieved by a card shoe with an integrated device for recognition of the value of the drawn cards (3′) (optical recognition device and mirroring into a CCD-image converter); photodiodes (52) arranged under the table cloth (51) in order to register separately the casino light passing through each area (53, 54) for placing the gaming chips (41) and areas (55, 56) for placing the playing cards (3) in dependence of the arrangement or movement of the jettons and playing cards on the mentioned areas; a device for automatic recognition of each bet (scanner to register the color of the jettons, or a RFID-system comprising a S/R station and jettons with integrated transponder); an EDP program created in accordance with the gaming rules to evaluate and store all data transmitted from the functional devices to the computer; and a monitor to display the run of the game and players' wins.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,374,061 (Albrecht) describes a system that uses a specially coded deck of cards indicating the value and suit of the card or a value related to the count of the card as well as whether the card belongs to a particular set of cards senses the code on the card and sends the detected signal to a processor. The processor determines a running count, a betting count, a true count or other information related to the profitability of a particular wager or particular action, such as an insurance bet as well as an indication of whether the card belongs to the particular set of cards assigned to the table. The counts are displayed centrally and/or remotely from the shoe that dispenses the cards. The electronics for the system may be internally included as part of the shoe or externally included as a separate unit in which the shoe is secured.